chapter three! we start to accelerate the angst level a bit in this chapter.

much luv

deke
Rob hit the water, and his concentration broke. He had to escape them, and setting them on fire was the first thing he could think of. But now he was far from them and he kicked as furiously as he could. He descended deeper and deeper into the water. His eyes were searing in pain, his chest burned, and he was hopelessly confused and scared, but in the water he felt safe.

What were those police men doing? Obviously they thought that he had done something - is this what they did to mutants when they found one?

Rob tried his best to wiggle his arms underneath his legs - they were handcuffed behind his back and he was helpless without them. The water felt good on his face, however, and the faster he kicked his legs, the faster the pain left his eyes.

He wasn't flexible enough to try to bring his hands underneath his legs, but he had to try. He pulled as hard as he could against the restraints, and finally, his hand managed to pass under his legs. They were in front of him once again.

He still couldn't get out of them, but that didn't matter now. He had to find a way to get out of here. He swam. He swam as fast as he could, but even that didn't seem to be fast enough. He had to find a way to allude the police and find his way back home.

Rob swam the whole distance of the quarry in about as much time as it took the officers to hurry back to their parked squad cars. He peaked his head over the surface of the water and looked around. He was alone.

He got out of the water, the cold drops falling from him as the wind made every drop feel like needles. He forgot how cold it had gotten. There was nothing he could do about it now - his hoodie was back where he had left the officers and he could not risk going back there.

He would have to walk home in only a pair of shorts.

Rob rolled his eyes to himself, wondering how his luck seemed to change with the days. Tomorrow will be better he promised himself as he began.

Just as in school, his body dried relatively quick, but that still did not help with the weather. Unlike the day before, today was cold. It felt like it was forty degrees out. Rob soon could not ignore the fact that he was shivering helplessly.

He was walking alone for a while, which seemed all the longer because his feet ached since he didn't have his shoes.

" Hello? Rob?," a small voice came from no where.

Rob jumped and wheeled around. No one was there.

" Hello?," Rob asked into the void.

Scoot stepped out from behind a tree and Rob starred at her.

" I am Scoot," she said as she walked up to Rob, " I am a part of Kelly, who came here to help you with your brother. It's okay, I am a friend."

" That's nice," Rob said in disbelief, and he leaned forward and picked Scoot up off the ground.

" We've got to go," Rob replied, and started off again. Under any other circumstances, Rob probably would have been a little bit more talkative or curious about a tiny person that he just picked up and was holding in his hand. Now, his thoughts rested entirely on getting home. He shivered even more.

" Your body is weak," Scoot said, " You haven't eaten in 20 hours."

" Oh," Rob replied. He should have realized that, but the discovery of his powers left him oblivious to the need of hunger. Now he was paying for it.

" Your body temperature is dropping," Scoot said as well, " It's 94 degrees right now."

Rob shivered as a reply.

" You have to be faster, Rob."

Rob didn't realize that he had been stumbling. He had never felt so cold or tired in all his life. He had been swimming ever since he reached the quarry the night before. And just like everyone else, he didn't realize how much energy he had used until he got out of the water. Now his legs felt terribly weak. Not that the sudden fear of being wanted by the police helped him much.

Rob stumbled again and fell down to his knees. He growled in pain for a moment.

" You have to hurry, Rob, please," Scoot replied as he waited for him to stand once again.

" Don't you have fairy wings or something?," Rob asked.

" No," Scoot replied.

" How cold is it now," Rob asked as the wind picked up.

" Thirty eight."

Rob groaned and brought himself to his feet once again. His hands and feet were numb, and he told Scoot that.

" Your body is freezing," Scoot replied, " Your body doesn't have the fuel to keep itself warm."

Rob groaned again, " Do you have any good news."

" We have a mile to go. You have to be faster, Rob."

That didn't seem like good news, but Rob kept walking. It felt strange to be walking on feet that protested so greatly with each step. They were burning with pain but at the same time they were hardly working.

" Blood is constricting," Scoot explained, " Pain is going to be much more forceful."

Rob didn't even respond. He kept walking, shivering all the while, as he wrapped his arms around his body in an attempt to keep warm. The sun was shining but it hardly helped at all. Rob had never shivered so much in all his life.

Finally, he had to give up. He leaned up against a tree and slumped down to sit on the soil.

" Rob, we have to keep going," Scoot said desperately.

" I can't," Rob answered, he was completely out of breath.

" If you don't get up soon, you're going to die," Scoot said.

Rob said nothing, but leaned his head against the tree. He closed his eyes and was still for a few minutes. Slowly, he dragged himself to his feet. He stood swaying helplessly for a few moments, and staggered onwards.

He didn't get far. He walked for a few yards and fell once again. He curled up into a ball on the forest floor, cursing his situation to himself.

Scoot walked up to Rob and looked at him. Rob hadn't said anything about it - surely he had noticed - but his brilliant red color was draining by the minute. Right now his skin was dangerously devoid of life.

" Scoot," Rob said, starring at her, " Help me."

" I can't," she said sadly.

Rob reached out his hand and held her in his palm. He was shivered as if he was having a seizure.

" Is anyone around?," he asked through chattering teeth.

" No. Not a person. Not even the cops."

Rob closed his eyes, and he tried desperately to focus his mind. He attempted to lift himself off the ground in the face of the desperate situation, but he couldn't find the strength. He looked at Scoot desperately.

" Please help me," he whined.

Scoot could think of nothing to say and so remained silent, starring back at Rob. He closed his eyes. He started to concentrate on not being cold. It was hopeless.

But then he started to concentrate on something else.

" Fly away, Scoot," he said, " Fly away and find someone to help me."

" I can't. I don't have wings."

" Have wings..." Rob said, concentrating as hard as he could. He forced his body to stop shivering and he concentrated as hard as he could. There was something different with Scoot - she wasn't a proper human or even a proper mutant. She was just a part of another person. Rob wanted desperately for her to think that she had wings, so that she could fly away.

But something happened. Scoot couldn't be affected by Rob's powers as other people were. In an instant, Scoot had a pair of dragonfly wings upon her back.

" Fly away, Scoot," Rob said to her.

Scoot didn't need to be telling twice. She fluttered away and was gone from his sight in a matter of seconds. Rob lifted his head to watch her until she passed from his sight. Rob tried once again to stand. He lifted himself to his hands and knees, and slowly pushed himself to his knees.

Rob placed a hand on a nearby tree and tried his best to stand. But his body was frozen. He felt like his legs would just break if he tried to move them. He was on his feet, but taking a step was almost impossible. His feet didn't obey his commands and he had to give up. He leaned against the tree and slowly fell into a sit. He shivered.

Rob brought his knees up to his chin and shivered. There was nothing he could do but hope and shiver. He closed his eyes as a weird feeling fell upon him.

Rob slowly felt like he was becoming warm again. He shook the idea from his head, he knew that was the final dance of hypothermia. But he was defenseless. His eyelids were so heavy. He had to struggle as much as he could to keep them from closing.

But close they did and he was helpless to stop them.
They must have looked strange if there was anyone there to see them. Leading the way was Scoot, who flittered before the pack. Next came Todd's father, who was running as fast as he could carrying a blanket underneath his arm. Kelly and Todd came after them, neither of them wanting to voice an opinion on the situation. Todd's mother was still at home, drawing a bath.

They had a mile to run. That fact seemed to laugh in their face. They were racing against a clock and nothing could have been more hopeless.

Todd's father proved to be a good runner - or else he was fueled by something that the teens did not share. They soon ran out of breath and slowed down.

" It can't be much further," Todd gasped and rejoined the hunt, " Let's go."

Kelly caught up to him.

After a few minutes of running, Todd and Kelly wanted to collapse again. Scoot's voice filled the air, though, " You're close." and they kept running.

It was Todd's dad who reached Rob first, and what a sight that must have been for a desperate father. Huddled against a tree that could offer no shelter, there was Rob. His color was even more drained - an eerie and lifeless shade of white which faint hints at Rob's true red.

" Rob!," his father shouted, and held his son in his arms. His body was cold, so dangerously cold, and he did not respond to his father's voice.

" Rob!," his father shouted once more, and Todd and Kelly caught up. Todd collapsed - from exhaustion and from the sight. There was no way that Rob could be alive. That thought nearly choked the air from him. He swallowed his doubts.

Todd's dad laid Rob down on the ground, he had already checked his pulse and found nothing.

" Todd, come here!," his father shouted, and Todd forced himself to approach the body.

" It works faster with two," his father replied grimly, and Todd understood. He formed one of his hands into a fist and placed it on Rob's chest. He pushed down as hard as he could, but tears were blinding him. He couldn't see any longer.

He stopped, and his father pinched Rob's nose and place his mouth over Rob's. He breathed two breaths and then Todd returned to his job. He couldn't even think, he couldn't do anything. He soon realized he was sobbing uncontrollably.

But then, the faintest of hopes. Rob coughed.

" Rob!," his father shouted and placed an ear over Rob's heart. There was a flutter. Rob coughed again, but he was breathing.

His father grabbed the blanket that they had brought, and they wrapped it around Rob. His father held him close for a moment, wishing he did not have to fear losing his son at that moment. Todd looked at his dad, and in an instant, they were embracing as hard as they could.

" It's not over yet," Todd's dad replied, and he raised himself to his feet. Todd would never have thought that his dad could have carried Rob under any other circumstance, but there was no time to question it now.

With Scoot leading the way, they hurried as quickly as they could back to the house. Todd's dad was slowed down by the weight of Rob, but there was something else driving him - the parental instinct that is brutally relentless.

Todd and Kelly once again had to slow down. Todd couldn't hold it back anymore, he fell to the ground in a helpless bundle of tears. Kelly stopped and she knelt by his side.

" Oh, god, Todd, I'm so sorry," she said.

Todd said nothing at all, but he pulled himself together. He wiped the tears away from his face and stood up.

They made it back to the house in no time at all.
They raced through the back door, and flung themselves up the stairs to the bathroom where only two nights before Rob had taken that fateful bath.

They stood in the doorway of the bathroom, Kelly suddenly turning her face away at the sight. She excused herself away from the bathroom and stood on the stairs, reflecting. She looked up and saw Rob's mom - it was too much for her too. Neither of them had to say anything, a common emotion ran through them all.

Kelly burst into tears - she had seen far too much today to do otherwise, and Rob's mom hugged her fiercely.

In the bathroom, Todd stood perplexed. Rob was lying in the tub - filled with hot water, but somehow the sight seemed far too surreal.

" The water," Todd said, stepping into the room, addressing his father who was sitting there helplessly, " He breathes under water."

It must have been a hard thing to watch some one do, for Todd's dad flinched as Todd dunked Rob's head under the water. He turned his head away with what was a visible effort.

Todd looked over his brother in fear. His body was still freakishly lifeless in color, his face emotionless. Todd looked up and noticed that Scoot was standing nearby.

" Is he okay?," Todd asked, his voice shaking far more than he would have liked to have.

" His body is weak," Scoot replied, " Very weak. The cold has taken much from him. But we shall see."

" Will he survive," Todd's father asked gravely, devoid of emotion, the very sound of it sent shivers through Todd's body. The sound of those empty words remained in Todd's memory throughout his life.

Scoot said nothing.

That was answer enough.

Todd's father left the bathroom in a way that greatly showed his emotional and physical drain. Todd and Scoot were alone.

" Will he?," Todd asked as though hoping for a different answer.

Scoot said nothing for a while, and then said, " We shall see."

" Well, what do you think?"

" I don't think," Scoot answered, " I just tell facts. There are no facts here."

Todd sat in silence, looking over the body of his brother. It appeared that color was slowly coming back to Rob's body.

" Look!," he exclaimed merrily.

Yet Scoot said nothing.

It must have been a strange feeling, what Todd felt at that moment, because he was sharing a conversation with a little fairy-like mutant, celebrating over the fact that his brother's body was slowly improving to a red color. Yet that was a feeling that could not be replaced, and Todd cherished it all the more.

******

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